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Context No. 1274 of 4322 · Joshua

Context · Reflection

Joshua 21:41-45: in context

41All the cities of the Levites among the possessions of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. 42Each of these cities included their pasture lands around them. It was this way with all these cities. 43So the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived in it. 44The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that he swore to their fathers. Not a man of all their enemies stood before them. The LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45Nothing failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

With the land divided and the Levite cities assigned, the account pauses for a summary of overwhelming faithfulness. The LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their fathers; they took possession and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn; not one of their enemies stood against them. And then the ringing conclusion: not one word failed of all the good that the LORD had promised to the house of Israel; all came to pass.

The summary lands on one triumphant claim: not one word of all God's good promises failed; every one came to pass. After the long, difficult story of the conquest, with its setbacks and failures and incomplete obedience, the narrator steps back and declares that God, for his part, kept every single promise he had made. Israel had been unfaithful in places, the story does not hide that, but God had been utterly faithful; not one of his good words fell to the ground. There is a resting place for faith in that sentence. Whatever God has promised, he keeps, all of it, not most of it, not the easy parts, but every good word. And notice that this faithfulness is declared even though the possession of the land was, in reality, still incomplete in places; God's promise was sure, and its full working-out would continue, but the reliability of his word was already settled. It is a summary meant to be carried into every season of waiting on God's promises: not one word has ever failed. The God who kept every promise to Israel is the God whose promises to us are equally sure. What he has said, he does; not one good word will fail.

Do I trust that not one word of all God's good promises will fail, as it did not for Israel, even when their fulfillment seems incomplete or delayed, resting on the God whose every good word comes to pass?

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